Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) starring John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry, Jack Conley, Roger Bart, Neil Patrick Harris, Danneel Ackles, Eric Winter directed by Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg Movie Review

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kal Penn and John Cho in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Cho Ends up in the Penn

If you enjoyed the first "Harold & Kumar" movie then I am sure you are going to enjoy this second outing with its plethora of juvenile gags and a storyline which basically has them on a road trip again. In fact to be blunt "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" is a movie made for those people; it has in jokes which require having seen the first movie and never raises the game. So if you are tired of stoner movies where the gags attempt to get as crude as they can then you are probably going to be bored and maybe a little repulsed.

The day after their trip to get burgers Harold and Kumar (John Cho and Kal Penn) are heading to Amsterdam so Harold can hook up with Maria (Paula Garcés) again. But when Kumar tries to use a bong on the plane they are mistaken for terrorists and thrown into Guantanamo Bay where they can look forward to a cock meat sandwich. But having managed to escape they are forced to go on the run and try and get to Texas where Harold's ex Vanessa (Danneel Ackles) is about to marry politician Colton (Eric Winter) who should be able to get the mess cleared up.

Danneel Ackles and Eric Winter in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

The most intelligent aspect of "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" is that whilst coming 4 years after the previous movie the storyline picks up where it pretty much left off. I suppose in itself that isn't that clever but then when later on Harold & Kumar come across Neil Patrick Harris again and they mention he stole their car just the previous week it is a slightly clever and amusing moment. Beyond this there is little intelligence to this second movie which basically gives us a different story but delivers the same sort of movie.

As such right from the opening which sees Harold's shower and daydream interrupted by Kumar taking a huge crap it sets out what to expect, juvenile humour. And it is non stop with one gag after another which will appeal to those who look for simple crude laughs be it a bottomless party or Kumar's smokeless bong on the plane. It certainly goes out of its way to try and push the limits of being crude with references to blow jobs in Guantanamo Bay but none of it is clever. And to be frank whilst we have this road trip element as Harold & Kumar attempt to clear their name it is really just an excuse for lots of humour whether they fit in the story or not.

But the irony of this is that John Cho and Kal Penn work so well together as Harold & Kumar that the humour works be it a joke which fits or one which seems to be a set piece thrown in for laughs. But they are not alone and the supporting cast add humour be it Rob Corddry as the excessive Ron Fox who thinks everyone is a terrorist or Danneel Ackles as Vanessa who in a wonderful flashback shows us how Kumar became such a stoner.

What this all boils down to is that "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" is a movie for those who loved the stoner humour of the first movie and just want stoner gags. But for those who have grow tired of spliff jokes it will become tiresome and immature.


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